The Tour de France continues today with what is certain to be a very decisive stage to Alpe d’Huez, but does so without France’s best rider in the classification, Jean Christophe Péraud. The Ag2r La Mondiale rider was sitting ninth overall heading into yesterday’s time trial and showed grit in continuing despite fracturing his collarbone in a course-reconnaissance crash.
However more frustration lay ahead; he fell again inside the final two kilometres, and reinjured the area.
The initial injury caused a crack in his clavicle, but it remained in place. The second fall changed that.
“The last X-ray exams confirmed the aggravation of the initial injury,” his team said. “The fracture of the distal end of the right clavicle is now displaced.”
Peraud will now require surgery on the area and while he should make a complete recovery, the pain of withdrawing from the Tour de France while sitting in the top ten and being best French rider will last longer.
His team-mate Romain Bardet is now the best-placed rider from the country, but is back in 20th place.
Peraud, who was silver medallist in the 2008 Olympic Games cross country MTB event, previously finished ninth in the 2011 Tour de France. .